"Let me show you what i want": engaging individuals with cognitive disabilities and their families in design

In this paper I describe an ongoing multi-stage, participatory design study with individuals with cognitive disabilities and their family caregivers. I use a technology probe to inspire families to co-design a picture-based remote communication system. The technology platform is a PDA "smart phone." I will present early findings from this study and discuss how it was a successful approach to engage with individuals with significant cognitive disabilities as co-designers of their own technology. Keywords Cognitive disabilities, technology probes, mobile communication, participatory design, meta-design, independence ACM Classification Keywords H5.2. Information interfaces and presentation: User Interfaces ? User-Centered Design

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Melissa Dawe
• Keywords: CHI 2007, Human Computer Interaction, Keywords Cognitive Disabilities, Participatory Design Study, Significant Cognitive Disabilities